2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification

2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification
The 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification was the qualification process organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to determine the participating teams for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, the 17th edition of the international men's football championship of Asia. For the first time, the Asian Cup final tournament was contested by 24 teams, having been expanded from the 16-team format that was used from 2004 to 2015.
The qualification process involved four rounds, where the first two doubled as the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification for Asian teams.
Format
The qualification structure was as follows:
First round: A total of twelve teams (teams ranked 35–46) played home-and-away over two legs. The six winners advanced to the second round.
Second round: A total of forty teams (teams ranked 1–34 and six first round winners) were divided into eight groups of five teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches.
The eight group winners and the four best group runners-up including host UAE qualified for the AFC Asian Cup finals and advance to the third round of 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
The next sixteen highest ranked teams (the remaining four group runners-up, the eight third-placed teams and the four best group fourth-placed teams) advanced directly to the third round of Asian Cup qualification.
The remaining twelve teams entered the play-off round to contest the remaining eight spots in the third round of Asian Cup qualification.
Play-off round: At a Competition Committee meeting in November 2014, it was decided that a play-off round of qualifying would be introduced into the qualification procedure. There were two rounds of home-and-away two-legged play-off matches to determine the final eight qualifiers for the third round.
Third round: The 24 teams were divided into six groups of four to play home-and-away round-robin matches, and they competed for the remaining slots of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.
The play-off round represented a change from the initially announced qualification format – which saw the remaining fourth-placed teams and the four best group fifth-placed teams also advance to the third round.
Entrants
46 FIFA-affiliated nations from the AFC entered qualification. In order to determine which nations would compete in the first round and which nations would receive a bye through to the second round, the FIFA World Rankings of January 2015 were used (shown in parentheses).
Due to the joint format of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers and AFC Asian Cup qualifiers, the hosts of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, the United Arab Emirates also entered the second round of AFC Asian Cup qualifiers despite having qualified automatically.
Northern Mariana Islands, which is not a FIFA member, were not eligible to enter.
Schedule
The schedule of the qualification competition was as follows.
First round
The draw for the first round was held on 10 February 2015, 15:30 MST (UTC+8), at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The six teams eliminated from this stage progressed to the 2016 AFC Solidarity Cup.
Second round
The draw for the second round was held on 14 April 2015, 17:00 MST (UTC+8), at the JW Marriott Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Groups
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Group E
Group F
Indonesia was also drawn into this group, but on 30 May 2015 the country's football association was suspended due to governmental interference, and on 3 June 2015 the team was disqualified and all matches involving it were cancelled.
Group G
Group H
Ranking of runner-up teams
To determine the four best runner-up teams, the following criteria are used:
Points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss)
Goal difference
Goals scored
Fair play points
Drawing of lots
As a result of Indonesia being disqualified due to FIFA suspension, Group F contained only four teams compared to five teams in all other groups. Therefore, the results against the fifth-placed team were not counted when determining the ranking of the runner-up teams.
Ranking of fourth-placed teams
To determine the four best fourth-placed teams, the following criteria were used:
Points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss)
Goal difference
Goals scored
Fair play points
Drawing of lots
As a result of Indonesia being disqualified due to FIFA suspension, Group F contained only four teams compared to five teams in all other groups. Therefore, the results against the fifth-placed team are not counted when determining the ranking of the fourth-placed teams.
Play-off round
At an AFC Competition Committee meeting in November 2014, it was decided that two rounds of play-off matches would be introduced into the qualification procedure to determine the final eight teams for the main qualifying round.
A total of eight slots for the third round were available from this round (five from round 1, three from round 2). The three teams eliminated from this stage progressed to the 2016 AFC Solidarity Cup.
The draw for the play-off round was held on 7 April 2016, 15:00 MYT (UTC+8), at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Round 1
The lowest seeded team, Bhutan, received a bye, and the remaining ten teams were drawn into five pairs. Each pair played two home-and-away matches, with the winners qualifying for the third round.
Round 2
The five losers from round 1 joined Bhutan in this round. The six teams were drawn into three pairs. Each pair played two home-and-away matches, with the winners qualifying for the third round.
Third round
A total of 24 teams competed in the third round of AFC Asian Cup qualifiers. Since the 2019 hosts United Arab Emirates advanced to the third round of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, the automatic slot for the hosts was no longer necessary, and a total of 12 slots for the AFC Asian Cup were available from this round.
Due to the withdrawal of Guam and the suspension of Kuwait, the AFC decided to invite both Nepal and Macau, the top two teams of the 2016 AFC Solidarity Cup, to re-enter 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification as replacements in order to maintain 24 teams in the third round of the competition.
The draw for the third round was held on 23 January 2017, 16:00 GST, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The 24 teams were drawn into six groups of four.
Groups
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Group E
Group F
Qualified teams
The following 24 teams qualified for the final tournament.
Notes:
1 Bold indicates champion for that year. Italic indicates host for that year.
2 As South Vietnam
Goalscorers
14 goals
Mohammad Al-Sahlawi
11 goals
Ahmed Khalil
10 goals
Hamza Al-Dardour
Anton Zemlianukhin
9 goals
Manuchekhr Dzhalilov
8 goals
Tim Cahill
Yang Xu
Sunil Chhetri
Khalid Al-Hajri
Abdulaziz Al-Muqbali
7 goals
Chencho Gyeltshen
Jeje Lalpekhlua
Sardar Azmoun
Hassan Maatouk
Ali Ashfaq
Jonathan Cantillana
Sameh Maraaba
Omar Khribin
6 goals
Yu Dabao
Keisuke Honda
Naiz Hassan
Kim Yu-song
Son Heung-min
5 goals
Tom Rogic
Chen Po-liang
Mehdi Taremi
Shinji Kagawa
Hassan Abdel-Fattah
Kyaw Ko Ko
Jong Il-gwan
Pak Kwang-ryong
Ahmed Mubarak Al-Mahaijri
Phil Younghusband
Abdelatif Bahdari
Ahmad Abu Nahyeh
Hassan Al-Haidos
Taisir Al-Jassim
Ali Mabkhout
Sardor Rashidov
Abdulwasea Al-Matari
4 goals
Mile Jedinak
Mahdi Abduljabbar
Wu Chun-ching
Younis Mahmoud
Shinji Okazaki
Munther Abu Amarah
Abdallah Deeb
Bader Al-Mutawa
Yousef Nasser
Vitalij Lux
Yashir Pinto
Tamer Seyam
Javier Patiño
Boualem Khoukhi
Mohammed Muntari
Mohammed Musa
Osama Omari
Akhtam Nazarov
Parvizdzhon Umarbayev
Igor Sergeev
3 goals
Khaibar Amani
Nathan Burns
Ismail Abdullatif
Abdulla Yusuf Helal
Tshering Dorji
Chan Vathanaka
Jiang Ning
Jaimes McKee
Maya Yoshida
Yaseen Al-Bakhit
Odai Al-Saify
Khampheng Sayavutthi
Rabih Ataya
Hilal El-Helwe
Ahmad Hazwan Bakri
Ali Fasir
Aung Thu
Ri Hyok-chol
Misagh Bahadoran
Iain Ramsay
Ali Assadalla
Yahya Al-Shehri
Safuwan Baharudin
Fazrul Nawaz
Kwon Chang-hoon
Lee Jae-sung
Sanharib Malki
Mahmoud Maowas
Teerasil Dangda
Arslanmyrat Amanow
Altymyrat Annadurdyýew
Omar Abdulrahman
Odil Ahmedov
Lê Công Vinh
Nguyễn Văn Toàn
2 goals
Norlla Amiri
Jabar Sharza
Mustafa Zazai
Massimo Luongo
Mark Milligan
Aaron Mooy
Abdulwahab Al-Malood
Mohamed Al Romaihi
Sayed Mohamed Adnan
Abdulla Yaser
Khoun Laboravy
Prak Mony Udom
Wang Yongpo
Wu Lei
Yu Hanchao
Chu En-le
Godfred Karikari
Lam Ka Wai
Sandesh Jhingan
Balwant Singh
Ashkan Dejagah
Ehsan Hajsafi
Ali Adnan
Justin Meram
Mu Kanazaki
Ahmed Samir
Mirlan Murzaev
Khonesavanh Sihavong
Hassan Chaito
Mohammed Ghaddar
Ali Hamam
Niki Torrão
Mohd Amri Yahyah
Safawi Rasid
Ahmed Nashid
Sithu Aung
Sami Al-Hasani
Amad Al-Hosni
Mohsin Al-Khaldi
Raed Ibrahim Saleh
Jaka Ihbeisheh
Ahmad Maher Wridat
Mahmoud Yousef
Karim Boudiaf
Mohammed Kasola
Fahad Al-Muwallad
Khairul Amri
Jang Hyun-soo
Ki Sung-yueng
Koo Ja-cheol
Suk Hyun-jun
Abdelrazaq Al Hussain
Raja Rafe
Jahongir Ergashev
Dilshod Vasiev
Pokklaw Anan
Theerathon Bunmathan
Adisak Kraisorn
Mongkol Tossakrai
Chiquito do Carmo
Ramon Saro
Guwanç Abylow
Ruslan Mingazow
Wahyt Orazsähedow
Myrat Ýagşyýew
Alexander Geynrikh
Anzur Ismailov
Nguyễn Anh Đức
Nguyễn Văn Quyết
Ahmed Al-Sarori
Ala Al-Sasi
1 goal
Hassan Amin
Zohib Islam Amiri
Zubayr Amiri
Faysal Shayesteh
Josef Shirdel
Mathew Leckie
Tommy Oar
Komail Al-Aswad
Sami Al-Husaini
Hussain Ali Baba
Sayed Reda Issa
Ali Jaafar Mohamed Madan
Abdullah Omar
Jamal Rashid
Jahid Hasan Ameli
Mamunul Islam
Biren Basnet
Jigme Dorji
Karma Shedrup Tshering
Adi Said
Thierry Bin
Chhin Chhoeun
Hong Pheng
Keo Sokpheng
Sos Suhana
Huang Bowen
Mei Fang
Zhang Linpeng
Zhang Xizhe
Chen Chao-an
Xavier Chen
Chen Hao-wei
Chen Yi-wei
Huang Wei-min
Hung Kai-chun
Wang Rui
Wen Chih-hao
Yaki Yen
Brandon McDonald
Travis Nicklaw
Christian Annan
Bai He
Chan Siu Ki
Ju Yingzhi
Lo Kwan Yee
Paulinho
Sandro
Tan Chun Lok
Jordi Tarrés
Xu Deshuai
Fulganco Cardozo
Sumit Passi
Mohammed Rafique
Robin Singh
Rowllin Borges
Karim Ansarifard
Saeid Ezatolahi
Jalal Hosseini
Alireza Jahanbakhsh
Kamal Kamyabinia
Morteza Pouraliganji
Ramin Rezaeian
Masoud Shojaei
Andranik Teymourian
Mehdi Torabi
Mohannad Abdul-Raheem
Ali Hosni
Dhurgham Ismail
Mahdi Kamel
Ahmed Yasin
Genki Haraguchi
Hiroshi Kiyotake
Masato Morishige
Takashi Usami
Yousef Al-Naber
Yousef Al-Rawashdeh
Mohannad Al-Souliman
Musa Al-Taamari
Baha' Faisal
Saeed Murjan
Ali Maqseed
Aziz Mashaan
Faisal Zayid
Ildar Amirov
Azamat Baymatov
Edgar Bernhardt
Bakhtiyar Duyshobekov
Viktor Maier
Almazbek Mirzaliev
Bekzhan Sagynbaev
Islam Shamshiev
Roda Antar
Abbas Ahmed Atwi
Samir Ayass
Nour Mansour
Youssef Mohamad
Joan Oumari
Feiz Shamsin
Chan Pak Chun
Carlos Leonel
Leong Ka Hang
Baddrol Bakhtiar
Chanturu Suppiah
Khair Jones
Mahali Jasuli
Mohd Safiq Rahim
Safee Sali
Syafiq Ahmad
Syazwan Zainon
Ahmed Abdulla
Asadhulla Abdulla
Ibrahim Waheed Hassan
Hamza Mohamed
Hussain Niyaz Mohamed
Hussain Sifaau Yoosuf
Batmönkhiin Erkhembayar
Kyaw Zayar Win
Kyi Lin
Min Min Thu
Suan Lam Mang
Yan Naing Oo
Zaw Min Tun
Bimal Gharti Magar
Bishal Rai
Nawayug Shrestha
Jang Kuk-chol
Kim Yong-il
Ri Yong-jik
Ro Hak-su
So Hyon-uk
So Kyong-jin
Mohammed Al-Ghassani
Saad Al-Mukhaini
Said Al-Ruzaiqi
Jameel Al-Yahmadi
Salaah Al-Yahyaei
Nadir Mabrook
Qasim Said
Hassan Bashir
Mus'ab Al-Batat
Ahmed Awad
Abdullah Jaber
Matías Jadue
Mohammad Natour
Khaled Salem
Pablo Tamburrini
Khader Yousef
Kevin Ingreso
Manuel Ott
Mike Ott
Daisuke Sato
Stephan Schröck
James Younghusband
Ahmed Abdul Maqsoud
Akram Afif
Abdelkarim Hassan
Ismaeel Mohammad
Sebastián Soria
Salman Al-Faraj
Osama Hawsawi
Naif Hazazi
Irfan Fandi
Hariss Harun
Faris Ramli
Shakir Hamzah
Lee Chung-yong
Lee Jeong-hyeop
Nam Tae-hee
Subash Madushan
Moayad Ajan
Oday Al-Jafal
Ahmad Kallasi
Omar Midani
Nuriddin Davronov
Davron Ergashev
Fatkhullo Fatkhuloev
Umedzhon Sharipov
Tana Chanabut
Kroekrit Thaweekarn
Patrick Fabiano
Rufino Gama
Jairo Neto
José Oliveira
Rodrigo Silva
Serdaraly Ataýew
Artur Geworkýan
Süleýman Muhadow
Mekan Saparow
Mohamed Ahmed
Ismail Al Hammadi
Ahmed Al Hashmi
Habib Fardan
Abdullah Mousa
Mohanad Salem
Stanislav Andreev
Server Djeparov
Azizbek Haydarov
Eldor Shomurodov
Đinh Thanh Trung
Đinh Tiến Thành
Mạc Hồng Quân
Nguyễn Công Phượng
Nguyễn Quang Hải
Trần Phi Sơn
Ayman Al-Hagri
Mudir Al-Radaei
Akram Al-Worafi
Mohammed Boqshan
Tawfiq Ali Mansour
1 own goal
Sharif Mukhammad
Biren Basnet
Khoun Laboravy
Leng Makara
Chen Chia-chun
Mohannad Al-Souliman
Ildar Amirov
Valery Kichin
Ali Hamam
Lam Ka Seng
Amdhan Ali
Mohamed Faisal
Ali Samooh
Zaw Min Tun
Hamdi Al Masri
Davron Ergashev
Serdar Annaorazow
Mekan Saparow
Đinh Tiến Thành
See also
2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)
Notes
References
External links
, the-AFC.com
Preliminary Joint Qualification 2018 , stats.the-AFC.com
AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019, stats.the-AFC.com
Qualification
2019
2015 in Asian football
2016 in Asian football
2017 in Asian football
2018 in Asian football